


Every cloud’s got a silver lining

by nevvy



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Mentions of Violence, i don’t care what happens next
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 14:59:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16725603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nevvy/pseuds/nevvy
Summary: Why didn’t he listen?One shot only.





	Every cloud’s got a silver lining

It’s the shoe she sees first. A male shoe, polished, lying in a somewhat strange angle. Intrigued, she comes closer and is greeted by a sight of a second shoe and a pair of legs. It can’t be, can it..? Nicola limps even closer and is shocked to see who those legs belong to. What the hell is Robert doing here?! He was supposed to stay away from Home Farm, letting her take care of the matters with Graham. And what has happened? It better not be what she fears it is. 

Robert is lying on his right side and there is so much blood... Nicola tries not to panic but this doesn’t look good. The blood seems to be coming from a head wound, a quite massive one as well. There is even blood smeared on one of the walls and a fair amount on the floor. Nicola kneels beside Robert, wondering where Graham is and how is he going to explain this. After frantically looking for a pulse, she finds one. But it’s weak and there is no time to loose.

‘Robert, do you hear me?’ she asks, shaking him lightly. No response but there wouldn’t be one. Not considering the injury. She reaches for her phone to call an ambulance when there are heavy steps in the corridor.

‘You’re not supposed to be here.’ 

Graham. Nicola turns around to see her employer looming above her with a rope and a big black bag in his hands. He smells faintly of booze but she suspects he’s more sober than his looks can tell.

‘Leave. This is none of your business.’

‘What have you done?’ Nicola won’t let herself be easily intimidated. She can’t, there are two lives at stake here. She needs to play this right.

‘Leave when you still can. Don’t make me bury two bodies today.’

‘You won’t be burying any bodies, Graham. He’s still alive, he needs an ambulance!’ And quick, she thinks for herself.

‘Leave, I said. Or, if you want to stay and keep your job, you’ll help me.’

‘I won’t help you burying him, Graham, are you out of your mind?! He’s got family, they’ll be looking for him. And it’s murder if you haven’t noticed! Do you want to get send down for life? I’m calling an ambulance, we can say he attacked you and you were acting in self defence. Whatever, but we can’t bury him, he’s still alive.’

Graham looks down with disgust. ‘That’s easily fixed’ he says, stretching the rope in his hands.

‘No, no, this has gone too far. You see the blood? You know it leaves a trace? No matter how hard you’re trying to scrub it off, you can still see it in uv light. He’ll be reported missing, the police will come here and they will find the trace. And then pooofff, you’re behind bars. And me too. I’ve got three kids to take care of, I can’t be send down. So get a grip on yourself and let me call the ambulance.’

Nicola hopes her tactics will work but she’s got no idea how dangerous Graham is. To take the authoritative tone works for the most if you can deliver the lines with enough confidence but she can’t be sure of the outcome. ‘And I’m sure we can convince him not to press charges.’ If he survives, that’s it. Shit, Robert why couldn’t you just stay put? 

The time is running out in the tact of the blood sipping from the wound onto the floor. Nicola doesn’t even want to think what state Robert’s going end in, even if he survives this. A major head wound, a swelling of the brain, he can’t have much time now. Maybe he’ll never wake up anymore. Maybe he’ll be a vegetable for the rest of his life? Or maybe he’ll die altogether? But there is even a chance that this is going to turn out okay and she sticks to this thought. 

‘How did he get in?’ she asks, remembering that the door was unlocked when she came.

‘I don’t know. It’s not important. I told him to stay away.’

‘Doesn’t matter, we can say that the door was unlocked and he came in, threw himself at you and you were defending yourself. Okay? We need to keep it simple so the police won’t suspect foul play. But I need to call the ambulance now, Graham. Please?’

Graham’s silent, probably thinking if it’s worth to trust her. He’d better do, Nicola thinks, otherwise she’ll be joining Robert soon. And what the drunken fool was thinking, wrap the body up in plastic and dig down somewhere? Not realistic, half of the village would look for Robert if he went missing. Trust a man and his alcohol to make a sensible decision.

‘We don’t have time for this, I’m calling the ambulance now. You don’t want to have him on your conscience, Graham. And I don’t want it either.’

‘Do it’ he says at last. ‘I don’t want to see you after that, understood?’

‘We can talk about it once you’re sober, I don’t take orders from drunken men.’

It’s a relief to come through to the operator of the emergency line. 

‘Hello, I need an ambulance badly, we’ve had a break in and my employer may have hurt the burglar in self defence... Home Farm, Emmerdale...Yes, he’s unconscious, he’s bleeding badly from his head... no, I don’t know how long, half an hour maybe?... yes, there is pulse and he’s breathing...Yes, I know who it is, Robert Sugden-Dingle, just send an ambulance fast, I think he’s in a really bad shape, just speed it up, please... thank you, we’ll be waiting.’

‘They’ll be here soon’ she says to Graham. ‘So get a grip now. You’re not dragging me down with you if they don’t believe you. Do you know what to say?’

‘He came in and started to go through my things. When he saw me he attacked me so I fought back. Happy?’

‘I’ll be happy once Robert’s out of here.’ Just hold on a while longer, your idiot, she thinks. And what is she going to say to Aaron?

After another ten minutes there are sirens outside the house and in no time the ambulance personnel is wheeling Robert out. Graham stands still as the police are approaching him. He casts a look at her, seeking support. With a little bit of luck, Nicola can turn this into her own advantage.


End file.
